4 common wedding day mishaps & how to avoid them

Written by: Anna

Hello you adorable brides-to-be, I hope you've not been as blown away by our island winds as I have? I looked like I had literally been dragged through a hedge backwards after this morning's dog walk. Nice!

Did you see my post about the wedding day SOS kit last week? Well, Darlings, you'd be quite right to expect the 2 ^nd instalment of this right here. Instead, I'll be shaking it up a little. I wouldn't want you to think me lazy as, if you want to have the full list of items I'd recommend to be part of your bridal SOS kit, all you have to do is email me here at the b.team and you'll have your very own copy in the post right away. I may even throw a ginormous lollipop in with it!

The first and most important fact I'm going to share with you is that, contrary to popular belief, at any event there will always be things that don't go to plan. Whaaaaaaaat?

I know - it's the 'dirty secret' that nobody likes to talk about. But there's a reason why, even as early as 1786, Robbie Burns knew the truth when he referred to "the best laid plans of mice and men". Just because you planned your day with military precision and put said plans on paper doesn't mean they will happen quite like that. Not only do you need someone who can cast a watchful eye over proceedings but you need to be prepared for any of the following to throw a spanner in the works: those pesky elements, the lords of traffic (air, sea or road), technology, animals, children and sheer human error. And that's just to name the most obvious.

Don't worry, this isn't a thinly veiled plug to hire a wedding stylist, planner or coordinator. It's just a gentle nudge to say: "hey, you're looking nice today - and, niceties over, now go make sure you put some people in charge of making sure your best laid plans actually happen and, if for some reason they can't, Plan B is immediately initiated." Whether you pull in a professional, your family or a whole posse of friends, you have to have a team behind you to make your wedding day happen. Lecture No 1 over, here are a couple of real life mishaps and what we did to make them disappear (or at least be ever so slightly less obvious).

So instead, with it being wedding season 'n all, I thought I'd tell you about some wedding day pitfalls I've encountered over the years. And how to avoid them. Beware, this is a bit of a 'blunt truth' post.

Split a seam
A groomsman with split seams, about 45 mins before the ceremony? And, to my and my mum's utter disgrace, I'm useless at sewing. So if you're just as challenged with a needle as I am, follow these make-shift steps: remove item of clothing with split seam | turn inside out | pull seam together and line up the sides of the thin panels of fabric along the seam | use safety pins to pull the sides together as closely as possible| turn item of clothing right-side-out | if the seams hold without being (too) visible, you should just get away with it for the day.

Stop a cold sore

This has been a blessing on a few occasions, even if it has no proven medical merit. If you feel or even see a cold sore on your lip forming, ice it for 20 minutes on and off, 3 times in a row, and then again whenever you feel the need to. The logic behind it is that the reduction in temperature stops the virus from multiplying and the icing gives you relief. I know a few people who swear by it, so what's there to lose?

Stifle a speech
If you find yourself in the position of having to endure an out-of-control speech, wait until there's an obvious gap (or the speech-giver draws breath) and start a slow clap. I guarantee, it'll only take about 10 seconds for everyone else to join in, which will eventually leave the speech giver no choice other than to take a bow and sit back down.

Shot or not
I get it, Jäger-Bombs were your favourite drink at Uni and you really couldn't imagine your wedding day without them. Just think about this: the minute you introduce shots to your wedding bar, the glass breakage rate goes up by a good 40%. It makes sense - everyone's been drinking for the best part of the day and shots are so much harder to keep track of. Until you suddenly don't feel all that well. No really... As did a wedding guest last year who, 16 Tequila shots later, definitely would have preferred not to have drunk them in the first place. I'll spare you the details.

As ever, I could go on but I need to keep some of my stories for later. If you have any questions, you know where to find me - I am genuinely more than happy to hear from you.

Wheelbarrow loads of love,

- Anna

Categories: b.team · Tags: advice, b.team, bride and glory, planning advice, wedding mishaps